Hi friends. Been a while since I posted here. Running into a confusing situation that I'm trying to make sense of. Here's the run-down:

HP 15-R033DS model laptop. Purchased February 2015. Went into warranty repair center May 2015 to receive a new motherboard. Since then, laptop worked fine. Laptop has been used in light duty situations, i.e. office documents, web browsing, and that's about it.

The laptop belongs to a relative. Given it's out of warranty, they gave me a call. I opened up the laptop and here's what I found:

I'm... not seeing a processor fan. I got to wondering if this was somehow a passive chip. I called HP and after many hoops, two different technicians confirmed with me this laptop should have a fan. They both gave me the same part number of fan it should have: 753894-001.

The thing that confuses me is those white blocks. With those in place, I'm not understanding how the processor fan would fit. Are these spacers? I'm not understanding how a fan could A) fit in between those blocks, or B) sit on top with enough room.

Has anybody seen this before?

EDIT - Maybe this really is passive, somehow? The part # for the "heat sink" is 767537-001. A google search brings up the part... without a fan attached.

Really weird though, like you said those blocks are definitely...well...blocking things could be that the particular configuration you have (i.e. whatever cpu is in it) was deemed cool enough to not need a dedicated fan on the HS o.O what cpu IS in it out of curiosity?

__________________

"As a result of all this hardship, dirt, thirst, and wombats, you would expect Australians to be a sour lot. Instead, they are genial, jolly, cheerful, and always willing to share a kind word with a stranger, unless they are an American." -- Douglas Adams